Bagnaia before his ‘sweet’ revenge on a ‘friendly’ circuit

The Italian Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia (Ducati Desmosedici GP24) is this weekend, where the San Marino MotoGP Grand Prix will take place at the ‘Marco Simoncelli’ circuit in Misano Adriatico, facing the possibility of getting a ‘sweet revenge’ on a ‘friendly’ circuit for him.

Bagnaia knows what it’s like to win at Misano Adriaticoas he has done for the past three seasons, more than enough reason for the current MotoGP world champion to ‘feel’ the desire to go to the San Marino weekend to achieve the revulation that will ‘pay’ him for the bad luck of Aragon, where he finished ninth in the sprint race and crashed in the grand prix.

The crash of ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia at Motorland Alcañiz, with the Spaniard Alex Marquez (Ducati Desmosedici GP23), generated a bit of controversy at the fault of the two, especially on the ‘Italian side’, which probably made the Spaniard pay with the usual ‘boos’ from the Italian ‘tifosi’.

But, when it comes to sportsmanship, the transalpine champion should be without doubt, because he and his motorcycle are the same They know the layout of the Adriatic coast very well and, ‘a priori’, they should start as clear favorites for victory.

It is true that Adriatico will come to Misano a ‘plethoric’ Marc Márquez who, in Aragón, ended a drought of 1,043 days without reaching the top of the podium, and, although he also knows what it is to win on the Italian track, he will not have it as easy as in Motorland.

Marc Márquez won the 2015, 2017 and 2019 editions of ‘Marco Simoncelli’, but this ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia with the most ‘fresh’ referencesas they have won the last three editions of 2021, 2022 and 2023, and the fact of ‘playing at home’ gives them an added bonus to their chances of winning.

Other candidates for the victory could be the Italian Franco Morbidelli and the Spanish Maverick Viñales, because both won the pandemic year in that situation, the first in the San Marino race, and the second in the Emilia Romagna race, because as a result of the covid 19 in that situation, the two races were held almost consecutively, as will be the case this season, although this time it looks like a result of the cancellation of the Kazakhstan Grand Prix.

To them, obviously, we must add the leader of the championship, the Spanish Jorge Martin (Ducati Desmosedici GP24), which is always there.

Martín has a 23-point advantage over Bagnaia and 70 points ahead of Marc Márquezhas two wins, five seconds, three of them in a row, and two thirds in long races, in addition to four victories in the ‘sprint’ race, four seconds – the last three in a row – and two thirds.

In addition to them, in the fight for victory we cannot deny the main Italian drivers, always capable of surprising ‘at home’ and in that relationship we must consider Enea Bastianini, in his case with more another reason for being a driver. Ducati official and has the same bike as Bagnaia, Fabio di Giannantonio (Ducati Desmosedici GP23) or Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati Desmosedici GP23).

The ‘tests’ they carried out in that situation should serve as an incentive for the KTM riders, who have started with good references since then, even if it is with test riders, to have a good starting set-up that will help the them. be ‘up’ for the first time.

Same with Spanish Pedro Acosta (Gas Gas RC 16), who arrived satisfied with his podium at Motorland Aragón, even if it was due to the fall of Bagnaia and Alex Márquez, as in south africa Brad Binder and Australian Jack Millerofficial KTM riders, will have the opportunity to evaluate whether a ‘step forward’ has been achieved in the evolution of the RC 16 prototype.

In addition to Maverick Vinaleswe have to consider the other official driver of the Noale manufacturer, Aprilia, the Spaniard Aleix Espargaro, who during his farewell to the competition did not maintain a very consistent line of performance and had a fourth place in the Grand Prix of Catalonia as his best result of the season.

It will be more complicated to know the performance of both official Yamaha riders, the French Fabio Quartararo and the Spanish Alex Rinssuch as from Honda, the Spanish Joan Mir and the Italian Luca Marini, ‘‘participating’ in achieving the proper evolution of their prototypes allowing them to be at the level of their competitors, something they have not achieved so far.